Before spending my junior year abroad in Paris, I had never been outside of North America, and I was excited for the opportunity to travel around France and around Europe. One of my favorite memories is of spending Christmas Day in Nimes with my family. They had come to visit me and we spent most of the break driving around France before returning to Paris for the New Year. We went up to Normandy and visited Mont St. Michel and Omaha Beach, where my grandfather landed on D-Day in 1944. We then drove down to Provence through the Loire Valley, visiting a few chateaux on the way and staying overnight in an old, creepy mansion. We stayed in Lyon for a few days, and on Christmas we took a day trip to Nîmes.

I had studied Latin for seven years before beginning French at Smith, and I was looking forward to seeing the famous Roman ruins and monuments in the area. Nimes is home to some incredible Roman treasures. In addition to having the a well-preserved Roman amphitheatre, Nimes is also home to the Maison Carrée, one of the best-preserved Roman temples in the world.  After marveling at the near-perfection of the 2,000 year-old Maison Carrée, we spent a few hours exploring the amphitheatre. We climbed to the top to view the city.

At the top, I took this photo of my family. Later, when I looked at the photograph again, I noticed how the Ferris wheel, set-up for the holidays, rises above the top edge of the outer wall of the amphitheatre, next to the 17th century steeple of the Catholic Church of Sainte Perpétue. I appreciated the contrast of shapes, colors, and centuries captured in the photo, and how the people present help convey the vastness of the amphitheatre.

After leaving, we walked through the gorgeous Jardins de la Fontaine and the ruins of the Temple of Diane. At nightfall, there were light shows projected onto some of the buildings, including the amphitheatre, a clock tower, and a church. The projection on the clock tower took us back in time to different periods in the town’s history, and a stunning light show turned the church into other churches from around the world. The day was filled with beauty, history, and new experiences, and it is one that I will never forget.

Arcadia Kratkiewicz is a senior biochemistry major with a minor in computational biology. She spent her junior year abroad with the Sciences à Paris portion of Smith’s JYA Paris program. She is currently working on a senior honors thesis in biochemistry and is the foil squad captain of Smith’s club fencing team.

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